The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1887-04-22
SOOOPED.

o&&tVA 1Os
The Mystery o. = I ing Series Of
Freight Robberios unearthed
ssvsnty-FIvs Freight Grows IN the Pan
Handle Road 1mplicatsd-Whose-
oAic Arrests ~ the Thicves with
she Evidence % rhelr Gait.
DrrsnrRGu, Pa, April r. Tho most im-
poItant arrests ever made In this part o.
the country wcrc begun ~ an carly hour
yesterday morning and before nightfalitho
officers OF the PAN Handle railroad had IN
custody the most daring gang Of railroad
robbers this country has ever known.
How many members belong 70 u - not
made public, but they run up into tho
hundreds Their stealings extended over
period Of two or three years, and the
amount stolen reaches 100000 stimuli
tancous arrests were made oil along the
line Of the Pan Handle road between here
and Columbus Warrants have been In
the hands OF the officers for some time.
and the persons arrested will comprise
nearly the entire frcightmen Of the line
They include conductors. brakemcn. en-
ginecrs and fremen- The ringieaders Of
the gang outside the railroad business
are known, and some Of them are now un-
der arrest.
The first arrests were made about two
o'clock in the morning. the police sur
prising eighteen men At their boarding
houses. The men were taken tat once -
the jail. Further arrests were made BE-
tween two O'Clock aud daylight. when
forty-six men, all railroad employees, con.
ductors, brakemen, drcmen and engineers
were behind the bars In speaking Of the
arrests . prominent oflccr Of the Pam
Handle road said:
For three years past the Pan Handle
road has been systematically robbed
Cars on sidirgs and cars In moving trains
were broken open and goods stolen. in
Guiding every description of merchandise.
Il IL estimated that at least 500, 600 worth
Of goods were taken. for which the COM
pany had TO pay. In August last we got .
ciew, and the company determined 70 push
Il 10 the end. Detectives were employed
who followed up every scent and finally
we had the Information upon which TO
proceed. When everything was ready we
decided to make y move all along the line
from Columbus 70 Pittsburgh, and two
O'Clock this morning was fixed TO strike the
blow. About eighty warrants were IL
sued for men in Pittsburgh. ! can't tell
how many for other places, but 1t was af
every point along the line: II will run up
in the hundreds. 1t is the biggest thing
Of the kind that ever happened in Pitts
burgh or in railroad matters in the world.
for nothing like II has ever happened
before can not tell who the men are
under arrest or who the ringleaders are.
This much will saw. however. we suspect
outsiders Of being implicated in that rob
berries. but know nothing positive"
Among those arrested was a man named
Baker, against whom there are thirty
eight charges Early one morning some
months ago al Sheridan station near this
city train was stopped for water. An
attack was made on the crew and In the
fight the fireman was shot He after
wards died from his injuries. AZ day
br-ak il was found that two cars had been
broken opcn and their contents stolen.
Baker Is accused OF firing the shot that
killed the fireman. and this il understood
to be one Of the thirty-eight charges
against him.
Search warrants were made out foi
several houses suspected as ''fences" in
receiving and disposing OF the stoler
property. IL Is currently believed thai
much Of the stolen goods will be re
covered
The following is a partial list OF the men
now in jail a. result OF the raid: John
Kirkwood. H. r. Kuhn. &. Longnccker, w
I. Lavcllc. George Morris, 9. Watson. ~.
y. Doyle. ). ii. Fisher, Sam Goodman. A
Grifiths. William Issctt. W. Z. Martin
w. = Roth, John Sweeney, j. Z. Shea
q. Shanks. J. A. TAYLOR. II. 4. Thompson
William Briggs, j. D. Gucshail. I. q. Han
lev. John Hastings. NJ. =. Joyce. - Bal<
or, r. Emcrs. Edward Wolf , Y. Hagcr
". John r. Gibbs. Mack Roberts. o. r
Brennan. Rober, Mackcy. NJ. q. Connolly
| George Schrur. L. Black. Thos. Vincent
| Al Coils. w. g. Bolas- John A. Bowser
| Charles Donavan. John Martin, j. w
| Aber. J. w. Richcy. j. T. Wright. II. w
| McCurry. }. I. Riney, ,. l. Lawson.
| DETECTIVES STORY.
| II an interview with Detective Ru.
\ yesterday, the following account OF tn
| inception Of the robbcrics, their detec
\ ton, thelmodus opcrandi, etc, was given
| Mr.. Rue said: Two years ago we de
-ided 70 dispense with locks on the cars
l and introduced our present system o
seals. The seal IL Of lead. Is about thu
size OF fvc-cent piece, and ID about one
eighth OF IN inch In thickness. The wir
used in connection with IL Is one OF six
tccnth-inch iron wire. There are curls Ii
Il 70 prevent ito being pulled through tn
lead seal The method Of using It 1
a. follows: Wire ID pushed throug
the seal. then through the has
Of the car doors. then back through IN
SCI al again. forming an unbroken circl
An instrument then il used in impressin
the seals. That in use. say in Pittsburgh
stamps upon the inverse side the letter
B. O. r. r. and upon the diverse sid
n. st. L. thus Indicating that the car
intact when !: -nters the Pittsburgh, Ciu
cinnati a st. Louis railroad bound wcs'
ward. The two wires are imbedded Z
the same stroke a. the letters are In
printed This understood, will give .
idea Of the inception OF the robbery ant
it, discovery by the officials Of u
road Eastcrn-bound trains wcr
not molested. Wcstern-bound trains hav
been the sufferers A. near a. We CO
estimate u these robberies have been II
ing on for two years. At first there wa
timidity and they only occurred IT Ion
intervals, then daily growing holder an
more general, until just lately every trai
was . sufferer We became cognizant q
the robberics through claims sutmittc